The Iron Flute

Koans are the intellectually unsolvable problem riddles at the core of the Rinzai tradition of Zen Buddhism. Though widely recognized, most koan remain narrowly understood. In this new edition, 100 of the most challenging and enlightening koan from the Chinese Ch'an patriarchs of the T'ang and Sung dynasties are presented, along with commentary from three Zen masters, offering guidance to their larger application to everyday life. There is also a biography of Nyogen Senzaki, a Zen Buddhist pioneer in the West.